I also have yet to experience any threat that would rise to the level of deadly force, and therefore I have not had to use deadly force. However, if I were to experience deadly force being used against me or my loved ones, I would not hesitate to defend against it with deadly force.

By the way, I have a CCW, and several handguns, but I rarely carry them. My opportunities to carry are almost always at night, going out to eat or drink, and I won't take the chance of having alcohol in my system while carrying.

I think most people would do anything to defend their family, but what's the point of having all the handguns and the permit if you rarely ever take them out with you?

Sorry to burst your bubble, but I'm not one of the ones who overlap. I think birth control should be distributed freely, as should sex ed. I think the Catholic Church's stance on birth control, and especially prophylactics, is tantamount to genocide.

When did I ever say you were?

Logged

John 14:2 :: In my Father's house are many mansions: if it were not so, I would have told you. I go to prepare a place for you.

The article asks if the international community should intervene in America's quasi-civil war, that kills 32,000 a year. If a gas attack in Syria rightfully gets people upset, a casualty figure 20x larger should do the same.

Well, right on cue. The NRA came out today to say if there had been more good guys with guns this would not have happened. And FOX is already complaining about Obama being too political at the memorial for the Navy Yard deaths.

Odin, my point was not about how many guns a person should have or how many rounds they should fire. I am not enough of a gun expert to even propose something like that. I was trying to explore why we in the US think so differently about guns compared to people in other similar countries.

Canada is not very different from the US. It has big cities, isolated rural areas, drug problems, property crime and so on, just like in the US. Canadians are hunters and people there have gun collections. But they do not have a widespread legal right to own a firearm, especially not handguns. They could change their laws to allow for that, but they don't. They don't seem to feel the need for everyone to have a gun (or several) for protection.

In many countries, there is more of a sense that people are connected to others in their community. The same gun control problem comes up in discussions about national health insurance, about taxes, about paying for roads. We will do things that might make sense on an individual level, but that don't make sense for the whole country. We will do things that hurt ourselves in the long run to keep other people--in our own country-- from getting something we think they don't deserve.

What is a slam-dunk in most countries (everyone is better off if we all have health care or we will get shot less if we don't all have guns) becomes a contentious "me and mine against those other people" fight in the US. I remember reading the international press during Hurricane Katrina, and people in other countries were amazed by the caustic comments they heard about the victims, and that the US president himself did not seem very concerned about his citizens being swept away or dying unattended in parking lots.

On the other hand, there was worldwide mourning after the 9/11 attacks in the US. The French headline said "Today, we are all Americans." I can't imagine a US paper saying anything similar about a terrorist attack in another country, because we would not want to read such a thing. As many people as died on 9/11 have been killed in foreign countries, and it makes hardly a blip on our radar. Who cares about people so far away and so different from us?

In the US we think of ourselves as separate individuals only responsible for ourselves and our own families. It could be that the US is so large and diverse that a rancher in Montana really does not feel any connection to kids in New York-- and vice versa. If I want a gun (or several) for my own reasons, I should not have to concern myself with how that decision might affect anyone else. And the "gun fails" where we kill and hurt each other by accident or stupidity or negligence or anger are the result.

The article asks if the international community should intervene in America's quasi-civil war, that kills 32,000 a year. If a gas attack in Syria rightfully gets people upset, a casualty figure 20x larger should do the same.

I've suggested on numerous occasions there are states - Texas, Mississippi, Oklahoma, etc - that should be invaded by the US.

The article asks if the international community should intervene in America's quasi-civil war, that kills 32,000 a year. If a gas attack in Syria rightfully gets people upset, a casualty figure 20x larger should do the same.

I've suggested on numerous occasions there are states - Texas, Mississippi, Oklahoma, etc - that should be invaded by the US.

I agree on the Texas thing. They're holding jetson and his family hostage.

Our military isn't trained to handle attacks during tornados, so I'd forget about that one. Of course there is neopagan to worry about there. Maybe we can save him when we're coming back from rescuing jetson. Tornados be damned. And if Mississippi were just allowed to sink into the sea, the south would have more room for alligators.

Logged

It isn't true that non-existent gods can't do anything. For instance, they were able to make me into an atheist.

Has anyone ever noticed that Mississippi is always last in everything?

[blatant stereotyping]And proud of it, dammit! All that fancy librul book larnin' the fascist fedral gummint forces on our children will just lead them to Satan. And communist European health care. And free gay abortions. Next you'll take away our guns and give them to illegal immigrant anchor babies. Now git outta my way. I need to drive mama to the post office to pick up her disability check.... [blatant stereotype ends]

If the progressive northern states did not subsidize the south with our tax dollars, it would be ranking somewhere between Haiti and Afghanistan. Let the sane people out, and then secede, already!

How I Got Licensed to Carry a Concealed Gun in 32 States by Barely TryingI was clueless, hung over, and totally worthless with a firearm. Four hours later, I was officially qualified to pack heat.

According to the state of Utah, I earned the right to carry a concealed handgun on a Saturday morning in a suburban shopping center outside Baltimore. Toward the back, next to a pawnshop and White Trash Matt's tattoo parlor, is the global headquarters of Dukes Defense World, a mom-and-pop firearms instruction shop certified by the Utah Bureau of Criminal Identification to teach nonresidents firearm safety as a prerequisite for obtaining a concealed-carry permit.

Yep, we have people come up to Montana from Utah and give classes so that Montana residents can legally carry concealed weapons with a Utah license. It is possible to get a Montana license, I assume, but it is so easy to get a Utah permit that many choose that route. Also, they like it because the permit lets them carry in so many other states. I don't know if a Montana permit has similar benefits.

I'm somewhat fearful that if I ask around I'll get shot.

(That's a joke, gun lovers. Don't shoot me for it.)

When loopholes are so big that blind hunters can hit the broadside of a barn through them, something is wrong.

Logged

It isn't true that non-existent gods can't do anything. For instance, they were able to make me into an atheist.

I like this report, it does not phase me though. How many kids were killed in pools, on bicycles, falling down stairs... This is a country of 315 million people, there are bound to be some idiots in the lot amongst the responsible. You might call the gun owner an idiot but most of them are responsible.

I am sorry for the loss of your kids but I am not giving up my gun which poses no threat to either my kids nor yours. I treat my gun as if it is loaded at all times. I don't leave it in a place where my 5 year old can gain access to it. I have 4 lines of defense on my guns.

1) Education, my 5 year old knows of the gun but has been trained in it's danger (not sufficient but it adds a level of security both at home and when at an irresponsible persons house) 2) Proximity, my gun is not in a place where my child can access it (kids are tricky though, they can surprise you in their resourcefullness.)3) Physical deterrent, I have a trigger gard on it.4) It is not loaded. (i know it is always loaded but I have it unloaded as much as possible)

You might call the gun owner an idiot but most of them are responsible.

I called these specific gun owners idiots, not all gun owners. And I did acknowledge most gun owners are responsible. But why do the rest of us have to pay the price for the irresponsible ones? It would seem to me that you would want the irresponsible ones disarmed forthwith.

And apology followed by "but" negates the apology. It means "I'm not actually sorry". Which fits right in with your overall approach to guns. You do not care how they impact anyone but you. Just admit it.

Pools, stairs and bicycles are not designed to be used to kill. Guns are made intentionally to fire a metal projectile with enough force to destroy things that it hits. You could use a pool to wash your dishes, and you could use a gun as a hammer, I suppose. But that is not what they are primarily designed for.

Maybe people should be granted the legal right to carry small bottles of smallpox virus, sulfuric acid or sarin gas for protection (or just to feel like a BAMF) if they promise to keep the bottles secure and away from kids and bad people. No training in medicine or chemistry needed, just show that you are not currently crazy or a criminal. I can't imagine what might go wrong.

I have a professor colleague who is a cowgirl rancher type. She looks like someone from the 1950's in Mad Men type fitted suits during the workweek, and sh!tkicker cowboy boots and jeans on her days off.

She has carries a gun her husband gave her for protection, no surprise there. She is evidently a pretty good shot and goes to ranges and knows all the rules and regs. Well, she is on the terrorist watch list now, because she forgot she had her loaded gun in her purse as she went through the security line at the airport to board a plane for Europe.

This woman is no idiot, has traveled all over the world. And carried a loaded gun into the airport. In real life, people are not perfect superheroes or James Bond. In real life, perfectly normal, intelligent people get distracted, lose their cars in the parking lot, drop their cell phones in the toilet, leave their house keys at the bank, set fire to the dishtowel, and forget where they put the gun.

I know another guy who is a conservative libertarian right wing lunatic. He is building a bunker to hide his family in when the Muslims arrive to take over. He says things like, "We are at war!" He hunts deer and used to be a police officer. He has a lot of guns. He is also evidently a pretty good shot and goes to ranges and knows all the rules and regs. I am sure there is nothing to worry about there.

This woman is no idiot, has traveled all over the world. And carried a loaded gun into the airport. In real life, people are not perfect superheroes or James Bond. In real life, perfectly normal, intelligent people get distracted, lose their cars in the parking lot, drop their cell phones in the toilet, leave their house keys at the bank, set fire to the dishtowel, and forget where they put the gun.

I still don't understand this as I look through everything before I go to the airport to see what I should or shouldn't have in my bags. I also empty my luggage when I arrive home, as well.

Perhaps my OCD behavior is why I don't have things pulled out of my bags.

Logged

John 14:2 :: In my Father's house are many mansions: if it were not so, I would have told you. I go to prepare a place for you.

That is debatable. There are a couple of ways we can look at people, with regards to idiocy. You could think some people are idiots, while others are not. Or you could think that and that sometimes everyone is capable of occasional idiocy or brilliance. Or you could think everyone is an idiot, and some of us do a fair job masquerading as smart people, but the idiocy inevitably slips out. That last is my opinion on the matter.

In real life, people are not perfect superheroes or James Bond. In real life, perfectly normal, intelligent people get distracted, lose their cars in the parking lot, drop their cell phones in the toilet, leave their house keys at the bank, set fire to the dishtowel, and forget where they put the gun.

Which is one of the reasons why I think people should not be walking around with guns in public.

I know another guy who is a conservative libertarian right wing lunatic. He is building a bunker to hide his family in when the Muslims arrive to take over. He says things like, "We are at war!" He hunts deer and used to be a police officer. He has a lot of guns. He is also evidently a pretty good shot and goes to ranges and knows all the rules and regs. I am sure there is nothing to worry about there.

This woman is no idiot, has traveled all over the world. And carried a loaded gun into the airport. In real life, people are not perfect superheroes or James Bond. In real life, perfectly normal, intelligent people get distracted, lose their cars in the parking lot, drop their cell phones in the toilet, leave their house keys at the bank, set fire to the dishtowel, and forget where they put the gun.

I still don't understand this as I look through everything before I go to the airport to see what I should or shouldn't have in my bags. I also empty my luggage when I arrive home, as well.

Perhaps my OCD behavior is why I don't have things pulled out of my bags.

The gun was in her purse, which she clearly does not empty before every trip. Maybe she does now.....

#28 La Plata, MD (I pay closer attention when it is my home state) ... a child gets into the family car, finds a 9mm under a seat and fires it but just not at the right angle to blow his brains out.

The people I have known in my life who keep loaded pistols underneath the front seats of their cars are redneck yahoos who think that the world is comin' to get 'em. Otherwise, they have done something to cause the world to come after them. Oh, yeah, and let's keep a kid around in that kind of environment.

Logged

John 14:2 :: In my Father's house are many mansions: if it were not so, I would have told you. I go to prepare a place for you.

According to the Platte County Sheriff’s Office, 30-year-old Trent Kowalski was conducting target practice inside his Collegeview Trailer Park residence around 10:45 p.m. Thursday when the accident occurred.

The sheriff’s office says Kowalski was shooting a .22-caliber rifle inside his home at 6034 55th St. No. 545 when a bullet exited the residence and struck 57-year-old Mark Foxvog in the leg.

Strange week this time around. Not atypical in terms of volume or even the kinds of accidents we saw. But odd in small ways. Topping the stats this week: six "home invasion" shootings, four hunting accidents, three gun cleaning accidents, three cops and/or security guards involved in accidents, and three accidents while target shooting. In a somewhat more unusual count, this week saw three men allegedly shoot their wives by accident. How's that for "protecting the family" with your guns?